Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS CONNECTING THE DOTS Art is connected to everything... music, history, science, math, literature, and more! This week, let’s explore how this month‘s paper art relates to some of these subjects. Geography Henri Matisse was from France. Robert Rauschenberg was from the United States. David Hockney is from England. Draw a line from their picture to their home country! May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 1 Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS CONNECTING THE DOTS How the Snail Found its Colors: Literature The Art of Matisse by Jeong-yi Kee and Dhaneul Ddang There are so many amazing children’s books about Henri Matisse, and a Henri Matisse: Drawing with couple about David Hockney. Scissors If you’re looking to expand your art study with a few by Jane O'Connor new books– check these out: Mr Matisse and his Cutouts The Mermaid and the Parakeet by Annemarie van Haeringen by Véronique Massenot Lives of the Artists Colorful Dreamer (Matisse is one of many artists mentioned) by Marjorie Blain Parker by Kathleen Krull The Iridescence of Birds 13 Modern Artists Children Should by Patricia MacLachlan Know (Hockney is one of the artists mentioned) A Bird or Two by Brad Finger by Bijolu Le Tord Meet the Artist: David Hockney When Pigasso Met Mootisse by Rose Blake by Nina Laden Matisse the King of Color by Laurence Anholt Henri’s Scissors by Jeanette Winter Matisse’s Garden by Samantha Friedman May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 2 Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS CONNECTING THE DOTS Music 1 Music inspired Matisse throughout his life. He played the violin each day and he explored themes of music and dance in his art. Some of his earlier paintings show things like a piano lesson, a woman with a tambourine, and a man playing the violin. 2 He even designed sets and costumes for popular ballet productions! He painted dancers, and simplified the images even further as he showed dance in a paper cut-outs. When he began making his paper cut-outs full time, jazz music was becoming very popular. Matisse explored some musical ideas in a book called Jazz. It was published in 1947, and Matisse created it all– he wrote 3 and illustrated it! Take a look at some of his paper art, and see if you can find similarities to jazz music. Think about the idea of improvisation and how it relates to both music and art. Le Lanceur De Couteaux, 1947 4 (side panel art) 1. The Violinist at the Window, 1918 2. Dance I, 1909 3. Icarus, 1947 4. Jazz, 1947 May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 3 Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS CONNECTING THE DOTS History – How to make your own paper– The word paper comes 1. Gather your materials. You’ll need a picture frame, from the Egyptian word some screening, a stapler, used paper, optional decorative ‘papyrus.’ Papyrus is a plant elements (flowers, leaves, etc.), a bowl, a blender, a plastic tub that grows all throughout the Nile or bin that’s larger than your frame, and a sponge or towel. River Valley. Ancient Egyptians made paper as early as 3000 BC. 2. Build your screen. Staple the screening to the empty picture frame. (As an alternative, you can pull a wire hanger into Paper as we know it was a square shape and stretch pantyhose over it.) invented in China in 105 AD (although some people say it 3. Make your pulp. Tear up your recycled paper and put may have been invented 200 the torn bits into a bowl of water. Soak for a few hours, or years earlier.) Their paper was overnight. made from the bark of mulberry trees! 4. Blend it up. Fill your blender 3/4 of the way up with water and add a handful of your wet paper. Blend it until there are no You can make your own paper more big pieces. today... even if you don’t have any papyrus plants or mulberry trees 5. Put it all together. In your basin, add the blended pulp, in your back yard. some more water, and whatever decorations you want to use. Stir it together and add color if you want (liquid watercolor or This project is a fun way to reuse food coloring). Dip your prepared screen under it all and scoop old paper you might otherwise up a flat layer of pulp. Set it aside to drip dry for a few minutes, throw in the recycling bin. You and then blot the excess water with a sponge or towel. Once can also add fun details like flower it’s dry enough, you can flip your screen over and gently peel petals, leaves, confetti, or any- the paper off of your frame. thing else you think would add something special to your paper! 6. Make more! Repeat the process to use up your pulp! May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 4 Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS CONNECTING THE DOTS Art There is a very popular children’s book author and illustrator who was inspired by the art Matisse made! Have you ever read a book called ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle? Did you know his illustrations are actually not painted or drawn? They are paper collages! Carle describes his process: “I begin with plain tissue paper and paint it with different colors, using acrylics. Sometimes I paint with a wide brush, sometimes with a narrow brush. Some- times my strokes are straight, and sometimes they’re wavy. Sometimes I paint with my fingers. Or I paint on a piece of carpet, sponge, or burlap and then use that like a stamp on my tissue papers to create different textures.” When his paper is dry, he cuts his shapes and assembles his images. If you have some Eric Carle books at home, take another look, and see how his art was inspired by Matisse. Maybe you can even try making your own paper collage illustrated storybook! May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 5 Playing The Studiowith with Paper ART HIST RY KIDS NOW IT’S YOUR TURN... This week let’s make art like Matisse. But first, let’s learn a little more about how he made his cut-outs! Matisse came up with this technique out of necessity. He had health issues in his later years that made it difficult for him to paint. He was confined to a wheelchair, and he sometimes had to stay in dark rooms because the light bothered his eyes. But, he didn’t want to give up on his art! His cut-outs gave him a way to express his creativity. He said it was like ‘drawing with scissors.’ He couldn’t do it alone, though. He had assistants and helpers who worked with him in his studios. Some of them mixed custom colors that he requested from gouache, and carefully painted bristol paper. They also helped him to arrange the cut-outs up on the wall. Matisse directed everything, and used a long fishing rod to show his assistants where things should go! Here’s what Matisse said about The Parakeet and the Mermaid: “I have made a little garden all around me where I can walk. There are leaves, fruits, a bird. I had to make…this parakeet with colored paper. Well, I became a parakeet. And I found myself in the work.” When Picasso found out about Matisse’s new creative innovation, he was jealous (but also excited)! He said: “What has the old man come up with now? He is crafty as a monkey! At his age, he still comes up with things like that… it gives me hope.” This week make your own cut-outs. To add an extra fun element to your art, use tape or temporary putty to stick your paper composition up on the wall! Paint your own colors! Make it big! Arrange it and re-arrange it until it looks just right. Of course, it will still be lots of fun (and much quicker) to use construction paper and make your cut-out art small. If you are short on time this week, do it this way! Matisse working at the Hôtel Régina, Nice, c. 1952 on The Parakeet and the Mermaid © Hélène Adant May 2018 | Week 3 PAGE 6.